HUD plans to put the kibosh on illegal immigrants gaming the system to gain public housing

Illegal immigrants who have been taking advantage of the public housing system will soon find getting that assistance to be more challenging.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will begin a crackdown as a new proposal takes effect over the coming weeks which will close off loopholes that illegal immigrants have been taking advantage of in order to receive subsidized housing through HUD, The Daily Caller reported.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Zoe M. Wockenfuss)

Illegal immigrants have been able to get around existing restrictions on public housing assistance which, according to Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act, does not allow non-citizens to receive the subsidized housing. But those taking advantage of the system have found they can get around the law by living with family members who are U.S. citizens.

A new Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or “SAVE,” program, will now be screening public housing assistance recipients in an effort to weed out those who are not qualified under the law.

According to The Daily Caller:

HUD intends to roll out a proposal over the next few weeks that prohibits any illegal immigrant from residing in subsidized housing, even if they are not the direct recipient of the benefit. HUD currently estimates that tens of thousands of HUD-assisted households are headed by non-citizens.

Families who are caught gaming the system by allowing illegal immigrants to stay with them either have to comply with the new rule or they will be forced to move out of their residence.

The new proposal is in line with President Trump’s “America First” policies, an administration official explained to the news outlet and would end Clinton-era regulations which did not require applicants for assistance to disclose their immigration status.

“This proposal gets to the whole point Cher was making in her tweet that the President retweeted. We’ve got our own people to house and we need to take care of our citizens,” the official said, referring to a tweet from the liberal pop superstar which questioned the logic of sanctuary cities welcoming more illegal immigrants when they struggle to take care of their own residents.

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“Because of past loopholes in HUD guidance, illegal aliens were able to live in free public housing desperately needed by so many of our own citizens,” the administration official added. “As illegal aliens attempt to swarm our borders, we’re sending the message that you can’t live off of American welfare on the taxpayers’ dime.”

HUD reportedly lacks the needed resources to accommodate the millions of American citizens who are on waiting lists for government-assisted housing, according to the department. The national average waiting time is currently about 26 months with some areas like Los Angeles showing a more than four year wait, according to The Washington Times.